Our new Indie Games subforum is now open for business in G&T. Go and check it out, you might land a code for a free game. If you're developing an indie game and want to post about it, follow these directions. If you don't, he'll break your legs! Hahaha! Seriously though.

Our rules have been updated and given their own forum. Go and look at them! They are nice, and there may be new ones that you didn't know about! Hooray for rules! Hooray for The System! Hooray for Conforming!

Buying a new TV and old grease stain on concrete

1) My mom is looking for a new TV since our old one of nearly 20 years finally crapped out recently. None of us really know much about TV's so we really only see size and price. She seems to have settled on something she saw on display. It's a Sony and the model number is KDL-46EX523.

We have low requirements for the TV. We don't have Blu-Ray or anything, we don't have HD cable channels and we're not going to be gaming on the thing. Ever. We're basically just going to watch regular TV and DVD's. We're looking for reliability, a good life span and portability since we may be moving in a few months/years. Does this TV fit us?

2) There are oil (I think) stains in our parking spot of an underground garage. I can't remember when they got there but even the more generous estimate puts it at about a year old. The management office has told us that they want the spot cleaned by the coming Friday or they'll bring in someone to do it and charge us $200 for it. We're going to pick up a degreaser from an automotive store but I was wondering if anyone had any experience with a stain this old. Will whatever chemical we buy actually work? I mean, if we're gonna get charged the $200 anyways then I'd rather not spend my Sunday scrubbing the damned spot.

Actually, coming to think of it, it was probably power steering fluid. I remember the mechanic topping off my old car and having the stuff bubble out right after driving it a few times. Don't know if that makes a difference.

TV with similar specs to the Sony you linked, and $200 cheaper. Samsung make good quality LCDs. I'd recommend a plasma for even less cost, but they're much heavier and more fragile, thus less portability.

A degreaser should work. Pour it on, scrub it in with a brush, let it sit for an hour or so, then rinse it off. Repeated treatments may be necessary.

And unless the carpark is plain concrete, it'll probably leave a bright spot. Unless you scrub the whole bay...

Hmm, the bottle says leave on for 1-5 min. Is an hour safe? I think it's helping, it looks like it's gotten lighter but I would like to work on it a bit more just in case management feels the need to be picky.

Maybe you should check the lease and see if you're responsible for oil spots on concrete. Maybe I'm the weird one, but this seems unreasonable to me.

Also seems like it would be covered under "normal wear and tear". Call your local HUD office.

"A man is likely to mind his own business when it is worth minding. When it is not, he takes his mind off his own meaningless affairs by minding other people's business." - Eric Hoffer, _The True Believer_

Maybe you should check the lease and see if you're responsible for oil spots on concrete. Maybe I'm the weird one, but this seems unreasonable to me.

Also seems like it would be covered under "normal wear and tear". Call your local HUD office.

Yeah I wouldn't do shit about it. Especially when they want to charge an exorbitant amount like $200. You could redo the parking space for muuuuuuuch less than that. You may want to check your lease. Also did you cause it?

Any time any of you moves into an apartment with a plain concrete parking space, see if they'll let you seal it. Concrete sealant is like a clear paint, but it bonds to the concrete and is quite hardy. Also, it just mops up, like a tiled floor. Couple of litres shouldn't cost mre than $20-$30, and a few hours work scrubbing, drying and painting your space, will completely eradicate any worries of future staining.

If the degreaser doesn't take care of it right away non clumping clay cat litter ground into the stain with your shoe and then mounded will help bring the stain back out of the concrete. Let it sit for a week then sweep it up and add fresh if the stain is still present, keep repeating weekly as needed. You could use degreaser in between adding clean litter to help break up what is on the surface. The clay cat litter also has the benefit of making the stain much less visible while you have it covered since it tends to match the concrete surface.

I doubt they could "redo" the concrete surfacing in a parking structure for a single space, even if they could it'd be WAY more than $200. I don't see that charge as being out of line to have a professional service come in and set up to power wash the space, possibly multiple times depending on how long the stain has been there.

If the degreaser doesn't take care of it right away non clumping clay cat litter ground into the stain with your shoe and then mounded will help bring the stain back out of the concrete. Let it sit for a week then sweep it up and add fresh if the stain is still present, keep repeating weekly as needed. You could use degreaser in between adding clean litter to help break up what is on the surface. The clay cat litter also has the benefit of making the stain much less visible while you have it covered since it tends to match the concrete surface.

I doubt they could "redo" the concrete surfacing in a parking structure for a single space, even if they could it'd be WAY more than $200. I don't see that charge as being out of line to have a professional service come in and set up to power wash the space, possibly multiple times depending on how long the stain has been there.

Its out of line because its completely normal for a parking lot/space/garage floor/etc. to get oil dripped on it from time to time. If they were just asking people to throw some kitty litter on oil spots, that would be reasonable; expecting the concrete to look brand new forever is not. This is normal wear and tear.

Maybe you should check the lease and see if you're responsible for oil spots on concrete. Maybe I'm the weird one, but this seems unreasonable to me.

Not a lease, we own the condo. And yeah, we are responsible. They even quoted the section in the official letter they sent us. I'll try to find some time during the week after work to give it another once over. Hard to take care of since they gave us just a week to clean it or deal with their $200 ultimatum.

I'll try hitting the 15-20 minute mark next time to see what the effects are. I'd rather not damage the concrete and then have them try to force us to fix THAT when we move out.

Well I've got a limited time frame (i.e from last Friday to this one) so the cat litter over and over won't work. I think I'll just go at it with the degreaser again and see where it's at.

The problem is that I don't know what their expectations are so I'd rather exceed them. I don't really want to have wasted my weekend AND get charged the fee.

TV with similar specs to the Sony you linked, and $200 cheaper. Samsung make good quality LCDs. I'd recommend a plasma for even less cost, but they're much heavier and more fragile, thus less portability.

We own a plasma and love it, but it runs fucking hot. Hot enough to make a noticeable impact on the temperature of our living room (in the summer the room is a bit hotter, in the winter the heat screws with the thermostat). The picture is fantastic, though.

Are you sure you're the cause of the oil stain? I'd write them a letter and ask why it wasn't sealed properly to make cleanup easier.

Basically what I'm getting at is how do they know you did it, someone with an old 1970's leaky car didn't park there one day for 10 minutes, and why shouldn't they use the funds from whatever bullshit HoA condo's have to fix it up that you pay into?

Are you sure you're the cause of the oil stain? I'd write them a letter and ask why it wasn't sealed properly to make cleanup easier.

Basically what I'm getting at is how do they know you did it, someone with an old 1970's leaky car didn't park there one day for 10 minutes, and why shouldn't they use the funds from whatever bullshit HoA condo's have to fix it up that you pay into?

It's an underground parking garage. That's why it's not sealed in the same way your double-car drive-way might be.

And it doesn't matter who did the damage. It's a parking spot intended for his sole use, but it's a 'common element.' He does not technically own it, so he is responsible for any damage. I know it's cool and rad to rag on HOAs around here, but they serve a purpose and the people that buy into them do so for a reason.

So, if your neighbor has a leaky pipe and it leaks into your condo you're responsible for the damages? Is what I'm getting at here.

Well no, then it'd be your neighbour's responsibility. A better comparison is if you caused a bit of a flood on your own condo and that damaged seeped out into the common hallway. Then you'd be expected to pay for the repairs.

I'm not even angry that they want the stain cleaned up. I get it, the parking spot doesn't really belong to us. It's not like they came into our condo and said we had to change our flooring because it's too dirty. I'm just pissed about the time frame. With another week, I could give it another scrub over the weekend but because they gave me seven days, I have to take time out of a weekday after work to give it another once over.

Are these accessible by visitors just randomly cruising through and parking in your space? I've had someone park in my assigned space before and leak shit everywhere because it was a beat up old shitbox. Fuck if I'd clean that.

Something worth considering with TVs, check out the UI and built-in software. I could have bought a samsung for 200 less but it was a huge pain in the ass to access the sleep function, so I went with the Sony.

Are these accessible by visitors just randomly cruising through and parking in your space? I've had someone park in my assigned space before and leak shit everywhere because it was a beat up old shitbox. Fuck if I'd clean that.

It's not too hard to get in although officially, you need a remote control to get the garage door to open. And I'm pretty sure the stain is mine. Has an issue with overflowing power steering fluid on my old car and just neglected to clean it right up at the time.

Something worth considering with TVs, check out the UI and built-in software. I could have bought a samsung for 200 less but it was a huge pain in the ass to access the sleep function, so I went with the Sony.

Hmm, I hadn't thought of that. I do want to make sure that it's simple to use for my mom. I think my mom trusts Sony as a brand so it's likely she'll stick with the one I posted up top, even if we have to pay extra. It's not like we guy TV's every year anyway. Thanks!

You're going to hate the picture on a large hdtv if all you push to it is SD. Its going to be grainy, low quality, and either stretched, or bound by two sizable black bars on the side. If you're absolutely not interested in hd programming, then get a used SD crt (tube) tv off Craigslist. You can often find these for free since people just want the huge and heavy relics removed from their house. I gave away two Sony trinitrons years ago just to not have to carry them downstairs myself.

Or you can upgrade to hd programming (theres lots of it available free over the air) and then buy a new upscaling dvd player to make your old dvds look better.